Easter Egg Fun

Just a few shots of the kids coloring eggs last night. We also made resurrection cookies for the first time.....a really cool thing to do if you ever get the chance. The kids loved it and I think it will become an Easter tradition for our family!

Some good ones from today!

I especially love the picture of the boys....with Nate helping Zach with his tie...
I cant believe how big they all are getting......

Do you see what I'm up against?!?!

I dont think this post requires much writing.....I think the pictures speak for themselves!! Happy Easter to everyone! Hallelujah....HE is Risen!!

Oh Deer!

On Thursday afternoon, I wanted to go to Rita's with the kids for free water ice so we all bundled up and headed out. On the drive there, we unfortunately stumbled onto a deer that had just been hit by a car and was trying to get off the highway. Without going in to too much detail....the deer was not doing so well and there were several cars pulled over on the side of the road. As we passed by, my kids were about climbing over each other to see the deer. We pulled into Rita's and saw a family friend of ours and the dad said "Did you see the deer?!?!" I told him that we did and he said "I told my kids to look away but OF COURSE they didn't listen and looked right at the deer!" I felt bad that I hadn't told my kids to look away but really wasn't too worried about it......
We ate our Rita's and got back on the road towards home. Being NJ, we took the jug handle and started back down the road where the deer was hit. As we got close, I said "I don't see the deer anymore. Maybe it was able to get away." Kay says, "No Mom. It is probably up there where the cop cars are." Right!! "Oh Look", I say. "There it is in the grass!" Just as I tell them to look...as if, in slow motion, I see the officer raise his rifle at the deer.....
"LOOK AWAY!!!! LOOK AWAY!!!!" then, POW!!! Oh my WORD!!! All of the kids looked away but Jocelyn, who proceeded to freak out and tell me she was gonna throw up! I couldn't believe it!!!
Needless to say, I had a LOT of explaining to do for the boys who wanted to know why and how and all the other things that little boys would ask and also had to deal with Joce freaking out in the back, saying "STOP TALKING ABOUT IT!!!"
Never a dull moment in our family......

Nate's Comment

So, tonight while we were watching the weather, I made the observation that they had a cross on Friday's forecast and I thought that was interesting for them to acknowledge "Good Friday" on the 5:30 news..... and Nate says "What is Good Friday again Mom?" I responded, "It is the day that Jesus died on the cross for us buddy". To which he said "Yeah,mom. He was really wrecked up there! All kinds of stuff all over him...." as he was using his hands to show me where the "cuts" were on his hands and feet.
I love the absolute truth in his statement and that he is really beginning to understand what Jesus did for him.

Irish??

So, today when I picked up Nate from school, the teacher motioned to me to come over.....oh, boy.....what did he do?!?!
She said "I have to tell you something funny that Nate said!"
Again.....what did he say?!
She said, "Today, we were discussing St Patty's Day and I asked the kids to go home and ask if they were Irish or not. One of the kids said "What is Irish?" and I told them that it was their heritage....for instance, their mom could be Irish or their dad could be Irish.....Nate raised his hand and when called on, he replied, "My dad is NOT Irish....he is a plumber!" Funny stuff!!!

Cool and the gang

Saturday afternoon we headed to Marsh's sister and brotherinlaw's house in PA for a little snackin' and relaxin'. The boys had a grand old time playing wii with her boys and we had a great time eating way too much food! We got home pretty late and with the time change we were beat in the morning so we played hookey from church. Shhh.....dont tell.
Sunday morning, we cooked a diner-worthy breakfast and then hung out around here for most of the day. Late in the afternoon, we headed out to the mall so Kay could spend some gift cards and then we went to Sports Authority for cleats, Costco for groceries and then ended up at Wegman's for dinner. It was WONDERFUL, very overdue day as a family. It is amazing how refreshed I feel after a good solid day of time with Marsh. I feel like I can do another week of craziness.

Sleepover!!

Friday night, Kay had a few girls over for a birthday party sleepover!! We all had a great time and believe it or not, Marsh and I actually got some sleep!! I havent laughed that hard in a while and I had serious flashbacks of being 12 and dancing in Jen Pheiffer's basement til I couldnt dance any more!! Good memories!

For Tricia

I have been following a wonderful blog by Nate Lawrenson , that tells the beautiful story of his journey over the last several years. He is married to a great gal named Tricia who has Cystic Fibrosis. She gave birth in January at only 24+ weeks pregnant to a gorgeous little girl named Gwyneth Rose. It is a God story, over and over every day and I love to read about their miracles that are happening with each passing moment. Nate has a link on his blog right now about a mom that listed things that she cant wait for Tricia to "experience" with motherhood and I figured that I would join that thread.

Tricia,
I can't wait for you to experience:
-TEETH!!! (nobody tells you about teething....)
-a sticker, stuck to the window of your car that WILL NOT come off!
-a sleepwalking child, that pees on a footstool, thinking it's a potty and even leaves the little, wet wad of toilet paper there as well
-searching for the least dirty trash can for the very upset belly
-Gwyneth, saying for the first time "I love you mama!"
-Gwyneth, saying "Mommy, hold me like a baby!"
-standing in a dressing room with women in both rooms to either side of you and having your child say "Oh mom!! Big Booty!"
-that wonderful, delicious smell of your childs clean hair
-Gwyneth's first sleepover at your house with lots of noisy, laughing girls
-melted crayons all over the back, back seat of your car
-Gwyneth helping you cook dinner
-never-ending, all consuming, blinding love!!!